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Cardinals sign four Dominican prospects

SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after the start of the international signing period, the Cardinals announced that they signed four players from the Dominican Republic. The group includes right-handed pitchers Junior Fernandez and Sebastian Nunez, shortstop Starlin Balbuena and second baseman Ezequiel Delgado.

MLB.com previously reported the signing of Balbuena to a $300,000 bonus.

Fernandez, 17, will begin his professional career on Saturday when he joins the Cardinals' Dominican Summer League team. The other three, because of their ages, have signed contracts for 2015 and are subject to approval by Major League Baseball's Office of the Commissioner. Balbuena and Delgado are 16 years old. Nunez turned 17 in mid-May.

The Cardinals have been allotted a bonus pool of $1,866,300 for this yearlong signing period. Clubs that spend in excess of their pool will be subject to fines and future signing limitations.